Ujima- One Spirit: Jackie Dove-Miller

When 140 children are slaughtered
in Afghanistan for some principal
not worthy of eternal sleep,
though I don’t know their names
and they don’t live next door
or have skin the color of night
I pray for their souls
because we share a spirit
that sits deeper
within our humanness
than the doctrines we embrace.
When those who are supposed
to protect and serve
abuse their power,
and, whether out of fear
or malice
take the life of one who
is not my brother but could be,
I weep for that life
as though it were my own
because it is my own
since those whose lives are taken
share a spirit with me
that sits deeper than
our last names
or our gender.
All difference is incidental–
Imaginary.
I am they who hunger
I am they who thirst
I am they who mourn
I…